After a quiet summer, the end of 2015 was a big season for bars in San Francisco. Where is everyone now? We often get emails about where regulars can find their favorite bartenders. So we decided to make it easier for everyone. We're putting together a regular list of where some of the most talented people behind the bar have been coming and going in the past three months.
Hear something or want to be included on the list? Drop us a line at hello@spiritlifestudios.com. We'll fact-check it and add it to the list.
- Isaac Shumway opened up the new Alamo Drafthouse in the Mission. They are doing kitchen-style service for the theaters and also running a dedicated bar space called Bear Vs Bull. Stacked on his roster are Christian Clark, Helen Diaz, Chad Henry, Rhachel Shaw, Andrew Mundy (back from Florida), Joel Baker, Will Popko, Michael Fleury, Ally Opstedal, John Fragola, and Dan Rubin.
- Claire Sprouse celebrated her last night at the Hideout as she continues her cross-country work with Tin Roof Drink.
- Johnny Codd is continuing to manage the formidable cocktail program at Gaspar but can also be found making appearances behind the wheel at Bourbon and Branch.
- After leaving BDK, Kevin Diedrich opened up a new popup called Turnkey in the Cantina space. Joining him is longtime teammate Adrian Wong.
- Anthony Parks took over the program at Mourad and is on his second iteration of the menu based on the the winter season.
- Zachary Brian Taylor left the program at Dirty Water and can now be found slinging on Saturdays at 83 Proof.
- Randy Mariani helped open the new Oro in Soma and is leading the cocktail program there. The restaurant opened its doors in September.
- Keli Rivers is capitalizing on her passion for gin by helping Martin Cate and Alex Smith get going at Whitechapel which first opened its doors in October.
- Dan Stahl joins the crack team over at ABV, which means that the "best new American Bar," according to the Spirited Awards, somehow got bestier. He's splitting his time between ABV and working with cocktail innovators Justin Lew and Ian Scalzo at Tsk/Tsk, which is blowing out New Year's Eve before closing down to build out cocktail lounge Horsefeather.
- Jay Villafana continues his work at the inventory software company Beverager. He's not at Raven anymore (the last party was Saturday), but you can find him churning out drinks at The Slanted Door.
- Jared Bene, formerly of Bar Agricole and Trou Normand, has taken over the cocktail program at Izakaya Rintaro.
- Christina Cabrera, formerly of Novela, has taken a new post leading the program over at Barbarossa, which opened in October.
- The abrupt closing of Chino in the Mission was one of the saddest this year, but you can still thankfully spot Danny Louie pouring out drinks over at Dalva on Mondays.
- After 20 years behind the stick, Brian MacGregor left Wingtip and embarks on new adventures working as a local field specialist for The Macallan Single Malt Whisky. Shared Brian, "The decision was not made lightly, but as my family has grown, I now have two beautiful little girls. I needed to have a job that allowed to be more present as a father and a husband."
- Sam Houston (formerly of Saison and Alexander's Steak House) and William Tsui have both left Jasper's in the Tenderloin and are at work on a new popup called Tiger and Crane. You can also find Will making appearances at Bon Marche and Dirty Water, while Sam has been sighted in LA.
- After shredding on the road with his band King Woman, Colin Gallagher is back behind the bar at Trou Normand and Hideout. Catch him before he goes on tour again.
- Our bad: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Neil Roche was over at Alamo Drafthouse/Bear Vs Bull. He's mixing things up over at Ramen Shop in Oakland with Chris Lane.
- Last Call: After a decorated run at Maven, Kate Bolton is off to Portland where she will be managing the bar at Americano—Blair Reynolds's sophomore bar highlighting coffee (Tim Hagney will be taking the post at Maven). SF also said farewell to Don Mallory who left Rich Table to move to the great city of Chicago. He's nabbed a corporate position over at Lettuce Entertain You, a big restaurant company in the Windy City. Kinson Lau, meanwhile, left San Francisco to go shake things up in Las Vegas.